CD upgrade, Naim or maybe not !
Posted by: emile on 03 February 2004
For the last two years I have been upgrading my mainly Naim system ,first the HiCap gave way to SuperCap then the 72 to 52 and with a little help from B&W I have upgraded my B&W Matrix 802 . At every stage the sound got better and better, smoother, titter and more dynamic. Last December I went to my Naim dealer as he had a one year old CDS2-XPS for me, I took with me my 6 years old Meridian 506 to compare. A sound proof room was kindly prepared for me. After about 40 mins of switching between the CDX2-XPS and the 506,
if there was any, and I mean any, difference in sound quality, well I could not hear it. I was offered to take the CDS2-XPS home for a week or so, I declined, £4000 is a lot of money to part with if it is going to take me a week to find any improvement.
Any one out there has tried Wadia or Audio Synthesis or another CD with Naim 52 SuperCap.
eg
if there was any, and I mean any, difference in sound quality, well I could not hear it. I was offered to take the CDS2-XPS home for a week or so, I declined, £4000 is a lot of money to part with if it is going to take me a week to find any improvement.
Any one out there has tried Wadia or Audio Synthesis or another CD with Naim 52 SuperCap.
eg
I run a Resolution Opus 21 cd player (a two box cd player with transport&dac in one box and PSU and controllers/display in the other, both boxes roughly hicap sized) into a 52/SC/250 and it's great. I have had some reliability niggles as I was a fairly early adopter but things are fine now. Sonically it is considerably better than a bare CDX2 and to my ears betters a CDX2/XPS2 and I prefer it to CDS2/XPS, though I must say if I had to choose between the Opus and a CDS3/XPS2 I would plump for the big Naim player.
One other benefit of the Opus is that it has a DIN output, which means your standard Naim leads will work. I've tried standard Naim, Chord and a custom Nordost SPM DIN
IN and they all work well, with the SPM being the best.
Lastly, the best news about the Opus is that it is priced to compete with the bare CDX2, but in my opinion outperforms much more expensive players.
Had a play with a Wadia 301, hated it. Hatefully hifi and unmusical, timed like a concrete block in the mud, lots of girly twiddly twee blink blink but no music. Never heard of the other player you mention.
You're not too far away - you'd be more than welcome to pop by if you wanted to hear the Opus in an olive system, just let me know.
John
One other benefit of the Opus is that it has a DIN output, which means your standard Naim leads will work. I've tried standard Naim, Chord and a custom Nordost SPM DIN
IN and they all work well, with the SPM being the best. Lastly, the best news about the Opus is that it is priced to compete with the bare CDX2, but in my opinion outperforms much more expensive players.
Had a play with a Wadia 301, hated it. Hatefully hifi and unmusical, timed like a concrete block in the mud, lots of girly twiddly twee blink blink but no music. Never heard of the other player you mention.
You're not too far away - you'd be more than welcome to pop by if you wanted to hear the Opus in an olive system, just let me know.
John